My 'Hemingway-Style' Story - Sweet Summer ♥

 

A best friend is someone who loves you when you forget to love yourself (: ♥

Two more hours before arriving at Ho Chi Minh city from New York. With my eyes closed, I daydreamed about meeting my family and friends, laughing with them, and telling them stories about my trip. “It’s summer and I’m gonna be home soon”, I kept telling myself the same thing as I slowly fell asleep.

I didn’t know how long I slept, but before I was fully awake, I could feel the heat of the sun gradually crawled on my wrist, then my arm, then my whole body. I knew right at that moment I was finally home. Out of the plane, into the airport; out of the airport, into my daddy’s car; just like that Vietnam welcomed me back. With the windows opened, I could feel the wind talking to me, the sun smiling at me in my family’s old-and-filled-with-memories car. Seeing every single member of my family waiting for me at home was the best moment of my life; tears overwhelmed me. Family reunion was finally here.

After a week having fun with my family, “PLAY TIME” finally arrived! 

“BFFLs (Best Friends For Life) HERE I COME!”, I shouted silently when my mom gave me permission to go to my friend, Tiffany’s house.

* * *

“Oh you know, I was so pissed you know. Like, I already called Scott to tell him to go to Tiffany’s house early so that I could talk to them and go home early ‘cause my mom said so. It took him for like, two hours to get his ass there. Then when he came in, I told the rest of them that I had to go home in ten minutes,” Talking with a non-stop beat, I tried to release all my stress, “They asked me why and I explained about my mom and they just freaking ignored me, so I just called a cab and went straight home when none of them asked how I was.”

“That’s so bullsh*t.” Lucy said, trying to make me feel better.

“Yeah like I was so sad. Like really sad. How could treat me like that when I just got back from America?” I almost cried, “But right then I felt like I loved you so much ‘cause outta nowhere you called me to go to your house and my mom just ADORED you so much that now I’m freaking here!”

Lucy winked and I realized how lucky I was to have a friend like her.

“Oh ya know, in America, I watched ‘Starstruck’ and ‘Taking 5’ again and I missed you so much!”

“Haha! I didn’t miss you!” She laughed, “Just kidding! I was watching Harry Potter with my mom last week and I missed you like hell too!”

“Haha okay? Weird! Oh you you you you you you! Did you see the last part of Harry Potter?”

“No! Damn!”

“Aw man! Me neither!”

Just like that we kept talking nonsense for hours in her bedroom that I used to hang out at every Saturday. It was like I practically lived there. All the memories we shared grew in a small space but we were so proud of it.

“Oh you know when you were away, Sabrina and I were kinda pissed off at Michelle a lot!” Lucy was continuously updating me every single news.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Like, she was so mean.”

“How?”

“Like when I had Casey’s bracelet which had bells, she was like, ‘Give it to me!’ and I was like, ‘I’ll give it to you at the end of the day’. But she kept saying ‘Give it to me!’ and so I said, ‘FINE!’,” Lucy was definitely furious, “Then the next day, you know Layla? She let me borrow her bracelet which had bells, too. And Michelle was like, ‘Can I borrow it?’ and I was like ‘No.’ and she was mad at me just ‘cause I said ‘no’!”

“What the heck?”

“Yeah I know right? That’s so f*cking stupid!” She started to swear, which was bad.

“Now calm down. Breathe!” I knew it wouldn’t work but it was worth a shot.

“Even Sabrina was mad at her and told me to forget it and ignore Michelle.” I looked at her and saw her eyes turning red.

“Aw man. Why did all my best friends fight after I went to America? So stupid –” I was talking when I felt something wet dripping on my shoulder.

I looked up and it was snow. It was snow. It was definitely snow. “But why was it snowing?” I asked myself. The person sitting in front of me, my best friend, was disappearing like there was a huge wind blowing her away. I could smell the smell of my room in New York, see my roommate staring at me, and taste all the not-so-delicious-and-not-Vietnamese food. What was happening?

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed. Finally. I woke up. 

*SORRY THERE ARE BAD WORDS BUT I NEED THEM TO FIT THE STORY (:*

Random Dialogue ♥

 

...

A: Oh you know, I was so pissed you know. Like.. I already told S that to go to T’s house early so that I could talk to them and finish work early you know. And like when S came, I told them to speak English for like 10 minutes and they asked me why. And I told explained to them, “Blah blah blah…” and they just ignored me for no reason. Like they kept talking about something else.

B: That’s so ______

A: Yea like I was so sad. Like really sad. But then right then I felt like I love you so much ‘cuz you went online and I ended calling them but they didn’t even ask me why.

B: Yea I hate it.

A: Yea and a few seconds ago, I. called me and asked me why I ended call with them and I didn’t answer. Oh you know today I watched Starstruck and Taking 5 again and I just miss you so much!

B: Awww haha I don’t miss you! Just kidding! I miss you too! Oh and these days I keep watching Harry Potter with my mom and I miss you so much, too!

A: Haha okay? Weird! Oh you you you you, did you see the last part of Harry Potter?

B: No! Damn!

A: Haha okay! Oh… wait. I was about to tell you something but I forgot! Sh*t! Gosh I forgot what I wanted to say…F*ck!

B: Okayy?

A: Ohhh yeaaa! I wanted to tell you that I feel like I love my mom these days. Oh my god. So weird right?

B: I KNOW RIGHT?!

A: Like whenever.. Like I know that she calls me a lot. But like.. whenever she calls, and then sometimes she has to hang up first. And like… I feel like I don’t want her to hang up. Yea.. and sometimes I think about her and I just wanna cry!

B: Aww.. Oh you know these days S and I are really pissed off at M.

A: Really?

B: Yea.

A: Wait a sec. Oh gosh it’s 12!

B: Why?

A: I gotta go to school tomorrow!

B: Oh okay. Here like she’s so mean to me these days.

A: How?

B: Like one time, when we went to the judo tournament, I stole C’s bracelet and I brought it to school. And like it has bells? And at school M was like, “Give it to me!”. But I said, “I’ll give you at the end of the day.” But she kept saying “Give it to me!” and so I said, “FINE!”. Then the next day, you know Linda? She let me borrow her bracelet which had bells too. And Mia was like, “Can I borrow it?” and I was like “No.” and she was mad at me ‘cuz I said ‘no’!

A: What the heck?

B: Yea I know right? That’s so f*cking stupid! Even S was mad at her and told me to forget it and ignore her.

A: Aw man. Why are there so many fights since I left? Like.. since I left, all of my best friends were starting to have problems with each other and I freaking don’t like it you know?!........

.....

Comparing Hemingway Short Stories Reflection ♥

*WHAT WE PRESENTED*

*REFLECTION*

From this small project, I learned that in order to understand deeply a text, we have to look very closely in little details of the text. It was also very interesting recognizing the similarities between Hemingway's short stories. It helped me to know more about Hemingway's style of writing. Although it was a very fun project to do and I even got to decorate my paper, there were still things that my partner and I could do better. We weren't exactly doing it together, in my opinion. We read the same stories and analyzed the similarities, but we didn't really communicate, since each person just did their own part. That was also why the presenting part was not very well-prepared. I think that that is something that we should consider to improve our work next time. ♥

Indian Camp ♥

*WRITE A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO "INDIAN CAMP"*

This story reminded me so much of my mother. It reminded me of how much pain my mom had to go through for me to be born. The author writes that the woman went through two days of pain because she couldn’t give birth to the baby and my mom had a hard time having me, too. I was stuck in my mom because of multiple problems and finally she had to give birth to me by operating, just like the Indian lady. Also, I felt bad for Nick, the doctor’s son, but at the same time, proud of him. When I read the text, I did not understand why the doctor could possibly bring his kid to an occasion like that. Nick was still a young boy and putting him through that period of time was kind of harsh. At such a young age, he had to witness a terribly disturbing scene like that. If it was me, I would probably pass out at the same time the woman did. Not only that, Nick also saw a man who died bloodily. Just picturing that in my mind scared me to death. However, Nick took it pretty well and positively ; he thought that he wasn’t going to die. In the middle of a bloody and painful mess, something actually made me smile and feel happy. Personally, I thought that this woman was very lucky to have so many people care about her. It made me miss the countryside part of Vietnam. Neighbors or strangers, they always care about each other. Since I lived in the city part of Vietnam, it was hard experiencing it because I only went to the countryside a few times. Therefore, when I read this story, it gave me a weird peaceful and family-like feeling. It was really the first time that I had two absolutely opposite feelings when I read a text.